ABSITE Quest is proud to present secrets to studying for ABSITE and tips for success. This presentation is perfect for general surgery residents who want to take a surgical approach to exam prep. Learn more about the exam, how to prepare, creating study plans, outline exam prep, review test-taking strategies, and reveal resources available to help general surgery residents prepare for ABSITE or their general surgery boards. Visit our website at https://www.absitequest.com. Study smarter, faster, and daily with ABSITE Quest!

1. P R O U D L Y P R E S E N T E D + S P O N S O R E D B Y
ABSITE

2. What is ABSITE?

3.  Yearly test administered in January to surgical residents nationally
 250 question multiple-choice exam
 5-hour surgical stress test
 Measure of residents’ surgical knowledge & clinical management
 Metric to compare residents nationally based across PGY & percentiles
American Board of Surgery In-Service Training Examination
What is ABSITE to you?

4. “Test that I fear and have terrible anxiety about every January”
“Yearly attempt to cram & review ALL the principles of surgery”
“The exam is a terrible judge of my knowledge & decision making”
“ABSITE in no way reflects my competence as a surgeon”
RESIDENT
A
TYPE
What is ABSITE to you?

5. “Great chance to test my retention of surgical knowledge”
“Yearly opportunity to show off my talents compared to peers”
“ABSITE performance in a way reflects my integrity as a surgeon”
“Marker of my dedication to learning surgical principles”
RESIDENT
B
TYPE
What is ABSITE to you?

6. A. Resident A (Loathes the ABSITE)
B. Resident B (Looks forward to ABSITE)
What is ABSITE to you?

7. 99
th
PERCENTILER
PGY-1: 94th Percentile
PGY-2: 98th Percentile
PGY-3: 99th Percentile
PGY-4: 99th Percentile
PGY-5: 89th Percentile
DISCLOSURES
& PATH TO MY
Jason Weinberger D.O. FACS
Board Certified in General Surgery & Surgical Critical Care
Associate Program Director at Lehigh Valley Health Network
Passionate Surgical Educator & Founder of
+
+20
PERCENTILE
INCREASE

8. YOUR PROGRAM DIRECTOR CARES….
Why ABSITE “IS” Important

9. On a personal level….95% of you will be applying to fellowship
Why ABSITE “IS” Important
Miller, Aaron T., et al. "How important are American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination scores when applying for fellowships?." Journal of Surgical Education 67.3 (2010): 149-151.
Passing your general surgery boards exams
De Virgilio, Christian, et al. "Predicting performance on the American Board of Surgery qualifying and certifying examinations: a multi-institutional study." Archives of Surgery145.9 (2010): 852-856.

10. Your Motivation Matters
Kim, Jerry J., et al. "Reading habits of general surgery residents and association with American Board of Surgery in-training examination performance." JAMA Surgery 150.9 (2015): 882-889

11. Your Motivation Matters
Joshi, Amit RT, et al. "What can SCORE web portal usage analytics tell us about how surgical residents learn?." Journal of surgical education 74.6 (2017): e133-e137
(YEAR ROUND)

12. Competition is Tight…
PGY-1 PGY-2 PGY-3 PGY-4 PGY-5
59 68 73 76 76
AVERAGE PERCENT CORRECT

13. PGY-1 PGY-2 PGY-3 PGY-4 PGY-5
4.2 3.8 3.1 2.9 2.5
MARGIN OF ERROR
(DIFFERENCE IN % CORRECT)
50th → 70th Percentile
10 9 8 7 6
# of questions making all the difference
Competition is Tight…

14. PGY-1 PGY-2 PGY-3 PGY-4 PGY-5
6.7 5.4 4.2 3.7 3.8
16 13 10 9 9
# of questions making all the difference
Competition is Tight…
MARGIN OF ERROR
(DIFFERENCE IN % CORRECT)
70th → 90th Percentile

15. PGY-1 PGY-2 PGY-3 PGY-4 PGY-5
26 22 18 16 15
EVERY QUESTION
MAKES A DIFFERENCE!
Competition is Tight…
MARGIN OF ERROR
(# OF QUESTIONS NEEDED)
50th → 90th Percentile

16. SATs

17. STEP 1: Define your own goals
STEP 2: Create an individualized study plan
STEP 3: Study effectively & efficiently
STEP 4: Execute on game day
How YOU can be successful on ABSITE

18.  Set a goal
Identify what your own personal goal is for ABSITE
 Pick a purpose
Why do you want to achieve that goal?
 Plan
A well devised plan improves your chance of success
STEP 1: Defining Goals

19. “I want to get > 90th percentile
on ABSITE this year!”
STEP 1: Defining Goals

20. Harness the power of small wins…
STEP 1: Defining Goals

21. “I want to get through 2 question banks, Fiser twice, and the ACS textbook this year.”
“I want to complete 50 questions, 4 Fiser chapters, & 2 Sabiston chapters by Friday night.”
STEP 1: Defining Goals
“I want to get > 90th percentile
on ABSITE this year!”

22. Pick at least 2 resources from each & commit to them
 Listen to Podcasts on the go (Behind The Knife, SurgCast, etc.)
 Review topics from previous years ABSITE exams….
STEP 2: Create A Study Plan
QUESTION BANKS / BOOKS:
 ABSITE Quest
 TrueLearn
 SCORE
 Scientific American SABRE
 SESAP
 ABSITE Review Practice Questions - Fiser
 Review of Surgery for ABSITE – DeVirgilio
 John Hopkins ABSITE Review Manual
 Schwartz’s ABSITE & Board Review
Do what you always do, and you’ll get what you always get…
HIGH-YIELD REVIEW BOOKS
 ABSITE Review - Fiser
 ABSITE Slayer - Dangleben
 Clinical Scenarios in Surgery - Dimick
 Surgical Review - Porrett

23.  Breakdown your resources chapters/questions into weekly aliquots
 Individualize your study schedule to rotations, work deadlines, family events, etc.
 Track your progress with red X’s each day you did ABSITE review
 Build momentum & encourage a continued streak
 Visual reminder of how much you’ve accomplished
 Have someone hold you accountable
 Reward yourself after milestone achievements
Put It On A Calendar

24. How are you studying?
 Re-reading chapters
 Sabiston’s
 Cameron’s
 ACS
 Weekly didactics
 SCORE curriculum
 TWIS quizzes
 Review old PowerPoints
 Continuously annotate Fiser
 Blocks of topics in Q-bank
 SCORE
 TrueLearn
 CRAM for 1 (~3) month(s)
STEP 3: Study Effectively & Efficiently
YOU’RE A RESIDENT
UTILIZE BRAIN SCIENCE

25. FACT:
Learning is simple…
but it’s not easy.

26. Ebbinghaus, Hermann. "Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology, trans." HA Ruger & CE Bussenius. Teachers College.[rWvH] (1885).
100%
Retention
50%
Retention
0%
Retention
Day 1 Day 7 Day 14 Day 31 Day 90
BATTLING THE FORGETTING CURVE
T I M E P A S S E D K N O W L E D G E R E T A I N E D
20 minutes 58.2 %
1 day 33.7 %
7 days 25 %
31 days 21 %

27. Ali, J. et al. "Attrition of cognitive and trauma management skills after the ATLS course." Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 40.6 (1996): 860-866.
DOCTORS AREN’T EXEMPT…
▪ 60 practicing trauma physicians took a standard ATLS
course, followed by multiple choice examination
▪ 3 day training course for managing trauma patients
(car accidents, gunshot wounds, stabbings, etc.)
▪ Immediate testing results: 86% average score
▪ 6 month follow-up test… 50% FAILED
▪ 15 years later… what are we doing differently??

28. STEP 3: Study Effectively & Efficiently
YOU’RE A SCIENTIST
UTILIZE BRAIN SCIENCE
How are you studying?
TESTING EFFECT
SPACED LEARNING
INTERLEAVING
“BEAT THE FORGETTING CURVE”

31. Questions, Questions, Questions!
Chang, Daniel, et al. "Study habits centered on completing review questions result in quantitatively higher American Board of Surgery In-Training Exam scores." Journal of surgical education 71.6 (2014): e127-e131.
Each 100 review questions you do could be a ~3% boost...

32. Questions, Questions, Questions!
Know your strengths & weaknesses!

35. Ebbinghaus, Hermann. "Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology, trans." HA Ruger & CE Bussenius. Teachers College.[rWvH] (1885).
100%
Retention
50%
Retention
0%
Retention
1st Review
2nd Review
3rd Review
4th Review
5th Review
Day 1 Day 7 Day 14 Day 31 Day 90
SPACED LEARNING & REPETITION

36. y secret recipe…
Incomplete LES relaxation & aperistalsis of distal esophagus = achalasia on manometry
Early phase of dumping syndrome is related to hyperosmotic load & rapid fluid shifts
Acetylcholine (Vagus n.), gastrin (G cells), and histamine (ECL cells) cause H+ release
Ulcer rebleeding risk: active bleeding > visible vessel > clot > clean-based ulcer
Post-op tachycardia after obesity surgery is warning sign for leak
Excess weight loss: duodenal switch > Roux-en-Y > sleeve > band
Questions, questions, questions! Random reading every night
Take separate notes for easier review later
 


37. y secret recipe…
Design your own system of notes or flashcards to easily
review high-yield information & quiz yourself (or others)
Create your own “ABSITE Recall”

38. First clinical sign of local
anesthetic overdose
Perioral numbness

39. Side effect of
sulfamylon/mafenide
Metabolic acidosis

40. Most common primary
tumor of the heart
Myxoma of the left atrium

42. Attend an ABSITE Review Course
Do you plan on attending this course next year?
scheduled TWO weeks before the ABSITE…

43. Create your own mini “Mock-ABSITEs”
 Simulate exam by doing 100-200 questions uninterrupted
 Interleave questions from random topics
 Build stronger neural networks with retrieval practice
 Frequent low-stakes quizzes will decrease test day anxiety
Simulate the big day…

44. STEP 4: Execute on Game Day
 Relax the evening before & get a good night’s rest
 Have a planned & focused topic / source to review morning of exam
 Wear comfortable / lucky clothes – limit distractions of zippers
 Proteins > carbohydrates on day of exam
 Avoid sugary drinks
 Stay true to your typical caffeine intake
 Ear plugs
 Utilize breaks to refocus

45. Question Answering Strategy
The provided clinical presentations are the most common
for each diagnosis & generally given for a specific purpose…
 A 22 year old female…
 Abdominal pain - think GYN diagnoses
 Ballet dancer – think extremity sarcoma & limb preservation
 A 94 year old...
 Think conservative management
 Less likely to have to opt for the aggressive surgical option
 An alcoholic...
 Think Klebsiella, dietary deficiencies, liver disease, etc.
 Ashkenazi Jewish population...
 Think Crohn‘s, cystic fibrosis, etc.

46. Hemodynamically stable or unstable?
 If tachycardic or hypotensive they’re asking for interventions
 Never observation and rarely a medical option if unstable
 Airway, airway, airway; GCS ≤ 8 = intubate
Is the patient symptomatic or not symptomatic?
 If symptomatic, never observation & rarely a medical therapy
 If patient is asymptomatic and there’s no obvious malignancy then think observation /
conservative management
Question Answering Strategy
CONSERVATIVE AGGRESSIVE

47.  Question stems are usually pretty short (2-3 sentences)
 All of the provided information is relevant, very little fluff
 Read all the answer choices
 Eliminate any obviously wrong answers
 Identify answer choices that contradict themselves
 Correlate answer choices with portions of the stem
 Radiology picture questions are meant to be easy
 Common diagnoses, don’t think Zebras
 The math is meant to be easy – there’s no calculator!
 GO WITH YOUR GUT!
Question Answering Strategy

52. 4.2MINUTES
S T U D Y A N Y W H E R E . A N Y T I M E . A N Y D E V I C E .